Cupid's Arrow

Chapter 2: Mistake

Chapter 2

Mistake

It was five or so in the afternoon and Kathryn was leaving a quaint coffee shop. She had left her loose, long, brown curls hanging free above her leather jacket. In addition, she was wearing a pair of dark, skinny jeans and wedge ankle boots. And, of course, she was holding her books close to her chest. Probably, she just had finished studying.

Kate was about to turn on the corner of the block when she crashed on a young man who had already turned. He was really handsome. He had all the features an average teenage girl asks for: blue eyes, straight nose, normal size lips and not-that-much-sort, light brown hair. She managed to take a glance at him and something attracted her. 

Suddenly, I felt strange. I was staring at them while they were picking up Kate’s books from the pavement. He seemed so perfect. Without a second thought I aimed at him and the arrow hit his shoulder. He picked up the last book and raised his head to look straight into her eyes. A big smile appeared on his beautiful face and Kate blushed. After a while she smiled back.

“I’m so sorry!” she faltered.

“No! I have to ask sorry.” he replied with the smile still on his face.

Kate for some reason felt uncomfortable and left after smiling at him for a second time. She was way much shy to say anything else. The guy stood there for a moment and then he left too.

“Oh, no!” I whispered. I would throw a special arrow on somebody - preferably a junior or a senior from university-, he would show a little bit of interest on Kate, she would feel more self confident and after a few days the guy would be back to normal. Instead of that, I could feel some things extremely wrong. Kate’s heart beat much faster than the usual – which was not my fault-, so the guy’s heart did. It was so much stronger than it was planned to be.

“No!” I almost screamed that time. I concentrated on him and I clearly saw that he had a long-time girlfriend he truly loved. And I was able to feel a small part of that love fade. “What have I done?”I said, whispering again. An instant mistake could make three hearts ache for a long time. I was the one who made that mistake and unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to take anything back.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked panicked. “You hit the right person.” The love arrows were visible only for those who knew about Cupid’s existence. That’s how Lily could see what I was doing, but she couldn’t feel what I could.

“He fell in love with her…” I faltered. “It isn’t just a crash. It’s love!”

“Are you sure? I mean, your father says you need more practice and…”

“I know how he feels better than anyone! It’s so clear!” Words came out of my mouth like a stream.

“Oh, so is that actually a problem?” she looked confused now.

“It’s a huge problem!” I replied quietly.

She was gazing at my face waiting for me to continue. But I didn’t. I had done one of the biggest mistakes I wasn’t allowed to do. How could I say that out loud? Now, my despair was pretty much obvious upon my face.

“Aimee, please, say something!”

“My parents won’t learn about what happened today. Can you promise that?” suddenly I sounded really serious.

Lily looked at me scared like a puppy. But then her scared face turned into a furious one. “Tell me exactly what you‘ve done. Now!” her voice was stable again.

“Okay. I will tell you as soon as you promise me.”

“We should go at my backyard” she snorted.

Lily’s backyard, with the huge swing and the big walls around, was the only safe place for us to talk. We both sat on the swing, silent for a while. Then I took a deep breath and I decided to start explaining while she was looking at the ground.

“The experimental arrow didn’t work the way I thought it would.” She wanted to say something but she let me continue. “The guy I hit fell in love with Kate, but…” I paused to take another deep breath. “But he was already in love with someone else. And I felt that love fading out.” I stooped and regret drowned my body.

 “Oh, God! You scared me!” Lily seemed kind of relieved. “You sounded like someone had died. But I forgot how much sensitive you are.” she smiled and then hugged me.

“What?” I cut in.

“Aimee, relax! Why don’t you find his girlfriend and make her fall for someone else? Everything is going to be okay like that. Don’t be so dramatic!” she told me in a gentle tone.

“You don’t understand! I must not throw a love arrow to someone who is already in love!” I almost yelled at her.

“I think you should talk to your father.” she mildly said.

Well, I couldn’t keep it secret so I went home and told my parents what happened, apart from the fact I was experimenting. They were both disappointed but surprisingly they didn’t get mad with me. Actually, my father said I still had a lot to learn and my mother comforted me, affectionately. Yet, I felt deeply horrible.

Once I was a little bit better I decided to follow Kate and her love interest almost everywhere. I didn’t know why I could do such a thing. Something about them was attracting me so badly. Lily as a loyal friend would be there too, so I decided to spend a huge part of the day watching them. Unfortunately, I had to attend our university courses and that’s why I would miss a part of their activities. Actually, Kate’s activities. I didn’t know where to find the handsome stranger, but I was hoping that fate would bring them together for a second time.

“Do you know how is that called? Stalking!” Lily furiously said to me when I told her about my plans. “Why would you do that?”

“It’s my job to protect the lovebirds.” I answered flatly. There was nothing better to make up as an explanation. Basically I couldn’t answer her question honestly, since I didn’t know the answer.

Soon, Lily gave up and agreed to come with me wherever Kate was.